


When The Truth Comes Out (Of My Very Own Mouth)

by We_deserve_rainbows



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Minor Angst, Minor Character Death, Murder, TS is a good friend, ivy is a good friend, ivy is v respectful, just a little bit tho, that thing the TS does where it says its not real but it totally is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:00:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26052286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/We_deserve_rainbows/pseuds/We_deserve_rainbows
Summary: In her early days on the ship, Ivy made it a personal goal to discover and catalog the history of everyone in the crew. She worked her way down her list, some people being far more amenable than others, but she did eventually get stories out of everyone save the Toy Soldier.
Relationships: Ivy Alexandria & The Toy Soldier
Comments: 7
Kudos: 73
Collections: The Toy Soldier Has Rights





	When The Truth Comes Out (Of My Very Own Mouth)

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you like it!!!! i just really like the ts..

In her early days on the ship, Ivy made it a personal goal to discover and catalog the history of everyone in the crew. She worked her way down her list, some people being far more amenable than others, but she did eventually get stories out of everyone save the Toy Soldier.

When she had first started this project she had assumed that she would have no problem at all getting the TS to tell her about it's past, but every time she broached the subject with it, it suddenly had something very important to attend to in another room. One time, when all she had said was ‘Before the Mechanisms’ and it had tipped its cap and walked very briskly out of the room, she had been so frustrated that it had crossed her mind to simply order it to come back and answer her questions. The moment passed and she firmly told herself that there would be none of that, that she couldn't order it to do something it didn't want to do, and it would tell her in time. 

Ivy had tried to ask the other Mechanisms if they knew anything about where the Toy Soldier had come from, but no one knew anything before they had stolen it from some antique shop. In the end, she was right, it did offer up its story eventually, it had only taken hundred-odd years.

She was reorganizing her archives one day when she heard a polite knock on the door and a voice following that said, “Miss Alexandria, May I Please Speak With You?”. She smiled fondly when she heard the Toy Soldiers voice and opened the door for it.

“What can I do for you, Soldier?” It was fiddling with the sleeve of its uniform and not meeting her gaze, when it didn't answer the question after a few too many moments she gave it a worried glance and gestured for it to come in and sat down at her desk, letting the Toy Soldier take the seat opposite before repeating the question. It finally looked up and Ivy flashed it what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

It settled its hands in its lap and said, “Right-O Good Chap, I Would Like To Tell You My Story,” Ivy's eyes widened in surprise, as this came out of nowhere that she could discern. She heard that familiar sound of resolute resolve in its voice, and she got out a notebook.

“Are you sure, TS? You don't have to if you don't want to,” She could tell that it was still fidgeting with its sleeve but she could also see the firm resolve that it so often had.

“I’m Sure, Miss Alexandria,” it seemed to ponder for a moment, “Where Should I Start? The First Thing I Can Recall?” 

She nodded and said, “That would be lovely,” 

It nodded back and said, “The Very First Thing I Can Remember Is The Widow,” it looked up to see Ivy open her mouth to ask a question and paused politely while she asked who “the widow” was, it thought about how to word its answer for a few moments before continuing, “She Was The Very First Person I Ever Knew, She Liked To Pretend I Was Her Husband, He Had Died In A War, You Know,” Ivy did not know but she didn't interrupt it, she knew it was too nice to talk over her, “She Would Take Me To High Tea And Teach Me To Talk Like A Proper English Gentleman, That Was Always A Right Good Time!” After it said that it paused, seemingly hesitating. Ivy was diligently taking notes and upon noticing the sudden lack of input, she looked up and asked it softly if it was good to keep going.

It nodded, staring intently at the table, “Yes... I Was Just Thinking..” it trailed off for a few seconds, “I Didn't Understand At The Time That Sometimes The Things She Made Me Say Were That I Loved Her,” Ivy's stomach twisted in concern, and she gave it a look of encouragement. The Toy Soldiers painted on expression didn't change, but it gave off an air of disquiet. It shook its head after a few moments and said, “Never The Matter, No Use Faffing Around, She’s Dead Anyway And A Good Soldier Never Dallies! Let’s Continue The Story, Shall We!” 

She took a few seconds before hesitantly nodding, filing that away under ‘Her friend's trauma that she would have to return to later’. It tapped its fingers on the table as it told her of its time as a walking exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and of its loneliness until it decided to leave the museum. 

“I Left The Museum Because I Was Lonely And No One Wanted To Talk To Me, But It Was The Same After I Left, I Was All Alone Until The Recruiting Party Came Along,” the Soldier seemed to perk up at that.

“Did they talk to you, Soldier?” she knew it was irrational to hope that the TS could catch a break given that it had already occurred, but she crossed her fingers anyway. 

It nodded enthusiastically, “Oh Yes! Jolly Good Chaps, The Lot Of Them!” It happily tapped the table and said, “I Got To Talk To Lots And Lots Of People! Even If I Had To Spout Some ‘God’ Nonsense,” Ivy nodded and wrote down more notes, prompting the TS for what happened next.

“Ah, Then There Was The Angel,” Ivy's head perked up, she had never heard of anyone called ‘The Angel’ and the fond sadness that dripped from the Toy Soldiers voice had piqued her interest, “I Found Myself Outside Of What The Salvation Army Had Called A ‘Den Of Iniquity’, And I Heard The Most Beautiful Voice,” to her, it seemed to be more sentimental than she had ever seen it before, but she couldn't have predicted the next words out of the Soldiers mouth.

“When I Walked Into The Bar I Saw The Angel, And I Fell In Love With Her,” She made a small noise in shock and the TS tilted it's head inquisitively.

Ivy shook her head dismissively, “Nothing, TS, I just haven't ever heard you talk about her before,” 

“She Couldn't Tell That I Wasn't Real, She Was Blind, You See,” she had always hated the Soldier's insistence that it wasn't “real”. She had spent lifetimes with it, and she knew that it wasn't human, but she was 99.3 percent sure that it was as real as anyone on the Aurora, “And I Finally Understood What Love Was, But She Didn't Love Me Back, Not Really,” The fond sentimentality melted to sadness and anger, two emotions that Ivy was unfamiliar seeing on the Toy Soldier.

There was something very uncanny about seeing the Toy Soldiers wide smile with this much hurt and anger in its voice, “She Fell In Love With A Real Girl, And She Forgot About Me,” Ivy's heart ached for her friend, “So I Killed Her,” Ivy was startled by how frankly it had said that she knew that the TS was more than capable of murder, but it had talked about the Angel so fondly, she wouldn't have thought that it would kill her. She didn't have much time to process her thoughts anyway, it forged on and said, “I Was So Angry, I Stoked The Breath Out Of Her Throat, And I Took Her Voice,” 

When it said that the scientific curiosity sparked in Ivy, “So the voice you're speaking with now? That was her voice..?” She said it hesitantly, hoping that she wasn’t being insensitive.

It nodded solemnly, “Yes, I Think I Regret Killing Her,” it paused for a second and then said, “But I Suppose If I Hadn't Stolen Her Voice I Wouldn't Be With The Mechanisms, And I'm Utterly Chuffed To Be Friends With All Of You!” Ivy beamed proudly when she heard that and told the TS that she was proud to be friends with it as well.

“After I Killed The Angel I Was Without Purpose For The First Time In A Long Time, So I Joined The Rose Reds And Fought Against The Rebels,” Ivy hummed in interest. She had noticed the passion that the Soldier sang “Rose Red” with whenever they performed “Once Upon A Time (In Space)” and she had calculated that there was a 26.7 percent chance that the Toy Soldier had a personal connection, so she was glad to find out that she had been right. 

“And When The Fighting Was Over, I Was Broken And Battered And Not Feeling At All Better About The Angel, But Mister And Miss Bittersnipe Found Me And Patched Me Up For Their Antique Shop,” it hummed noncommittally, “I Suppose I Am Quite The Antique, But Nonetheless, The Next Thing Was The Mechanisms Stealing Me To Sing, And I've Been With You All Ever Since!” It seemed happy when it said this, and she was suddenly struck with happiness that they had found the Toy Soldier, it deserved good friends, and it seemed glad that it was the Mechanisms that it had ended up with.

“Thank you, Soldier, I'm glad you decided to tell me,” She pushed over the notebook, “do you mind looking through this and telling me if everything's right?”

“Not At All, Miss Alexandria! Would You Like Me To Draw Pictures To Go With It?” Ivy knew that there was a 60.2 percent chance that pictures were going to help some members of the crew understand the story if the TS gave her permission to add its story to the archives. She nodded happily and gave the go-ahead for it to draw. They sat in relative silence for a few minutes before the Toy Soldier stood up and handed her notebook back. Ivy stood up and walked towards the door, hearing the wooden footsteps behind her and she opened the door for her friend. 

She asked if it was comfortable with her adding its story to the archives and it nodded, saying that she might as well. Before it left it turned to her and said, “Did Hearing About My Past Make You Happy?” 

She thought about her answer for a few seconds and then said, “It did, TS, thank you,” It tipped its hat like a proper gentleman and bid her adieu, marching down the hallway with a little more bounce in its step now that it had confirmation that it had made its friend happy. She smiled fondly at it and closed the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated! <3


End file.
